Jake moved in with me two days ago, and I have questions.
Who has had her so far? (Sheila and Judy, that I know of.) When was she born? What kind of cat is she? Why is her tail so stubby? Does she have a chip? (Yes.) Who's her vet? (I got that info from Judy.) Sheila named her "Jake," even though she's a girl. Judy has had Jake since Sheila died, but the office says she cannot have two pets. Since I used to have a cat, Judy asked me if I would take Jake. I agreed and talked to the office. The form that I must complete has 25 sheets of paper, and the pet fee has gone up to $300. Whew!
Now, my next question is whether Jake will want to blog on Caturdays, the way Clawdia and Kiki did.
Reluctantly Home ~ by Imogen Clark, 2021, fiction (England), 8/10
"As she climbed the stairs to her room, it occurred to her that for the first time in almost as long as she could remember, she was the one offering help rather than having it offered to her, and it felt good" (p. 209).
I've been to the grocery store twice this past week, once I walked over there with my cart and once I went with Sheila when she drove. Guess what . . . I forgot to get toilet paper both times. I still have a spare roll or two, but it made me think of people's pandemic buying last year, with their carts piled high. I wonder if the hoarders have even come close to using all that toilet paper they bought in 2020.
Decades ago, I bought this 6-hole cedar flute in Cherokee, North Carolina. I've added the beaded feathers to the green felt bag. Sheila and I were talking about music and musical instruments recently, and I told her about my flute and my kalimba.
Donna gave me this kalimba many years ago. Clawdia is in the picture because she wanted to play with (not play) the kalimba when I put it on the bed to snap a picture. It's a small thumb piano with only a single octave on it, unlike the larger mbira also pictured in this blog post from last year.
I'll be reading children's books next week, when these books on hold at my library are delivered:
Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus ~ by Dusti Bowling, 2017
Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus ~ by Dusti Bowling, 2019
Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer ~ by Traci Sorell, illustrated by Natasha Donovan, 2021
I ate takeout (it's one word, when used this way) with Sheila, Donna, and Alyssa on Sunday. Panera delivered, and we ate out back, while staying socially distanced. Unfortunately, it was hot with very, very scattered raindrops occasionally. But no downpour.
Word of the Day
takeout / tākˌout / noun = in North America, takeout is food that is cooked and sold by a restaurant or store to be eaten elsewhere. Example: "We decided to order takeout."
take out (2 words) = to borrow something from a place. Example: "Instead of buying that new book, I can take it out from the library." Another example: "A teenager hopes the boy she likes will take her out this weekend." And as the image I found on Facebook says (above), a movie gangster may mutter, "Take him out!"
take out (2 words) = In seamstress language, when you want to make a garment longer you take out the hem. Basically you are cutting the stitches and pulling the thread out of the hem to reclaim the length that was taken up by the hem. (Thanks to Emily for this additional way of using the word, posted in the comments below on 7/10/2020.)
And now today's weather
It was 95° at 1:30 pm in St. Louis, but felt like 106° out there. It's been HOT here today!
Today's Tip
To make the degree symbol (°) on a computer with Microsoft Windows, press and hold the Alt key and type 0176 on your keyboard's numeric keypad. Make sure the NumLock is on, hold Alt, and type 0176 with the leading zero. If you don't have a numeric keypad, press and hold the Fn key while typing the four numbers to make that degree symbol. Remember Alt-0176.
The degree symbol is commonly used when referring to temperature or an angle's measurement. This wikiHow tells you how to type the degree symbol on a Windows or Mac computer, an iPhone, or an Android.
Here's the birthday girl, wearing my face mask "uniform" as usual when leaving my apartment. Notice the tissue in hand for punching elevator buttons, so as not to waste a disposable glove just to take the elevator down once and back up. Donna had ordered me birthday dinner from Panera — Fuji Apple Salad with chicken and apple chips, and a blueberry muffin for dessert. I met her where deliveries are left on that table next to me because outsiders may no longer roam the halls of the Crown Center. We met the delivery guy there and each took food to our apartments to eat, all socially distanced to stay safe.
I'll show you what I ate, and it was delicious. I shared a few nibbles of the chicken with Clawdia. Maybe it's because they are trying to be extra good to any customers they can get right now, but it seemed to me there were more of all the goodies in the salad today — more sliced up tiny tomatoes, more feta crumbles, more pecans, even more of the chicken. It was very delicious. Clawdia concurs.
Donna sent me a singing birthday card, and I've found it on YouTube for you. If the video here quits working, click on the link to view it there. The words are appropriate, since Clawdia would act just like these cats.
Cats on an antique player piano
As if one musical card weren't enough, I got another lively one from Mary Grace (Gigi) entitled "Kit Cat Boogie." She wrote:
"Happy Birthday! Hope you'll boogie on your birthday, Bonnie! Last picture I saw of you, you looked well and happy — hope that is still the case. Enjoy your special day. xxoogg"
Yes, I'm doing well and have been doing the boogie all over my little apartment today. My cat didn't lick my cake when I ate a little Hostess cake for lunch. For breakfast, I ate a small can of Vienna sausages and the last three green olives left in the jar. There's a back-story for that.
When I was ten, I went off to summer camp with my cousin Carolyn, who's a year older than I am. Mother sent me a care package that week, and in it were a can of vienna sausages and some green olives. She knew I loved those special treats. So for my breakfast today, I gave myself a treat from my childhood and thought about what my Mom sent me seventy years ago.
Marie brought me a gift last night and, wearing our masks, she handed off the bag she'd used to bring it up to me and backed off across the hall. I had a hard time deciding whether to open it last night — who would know, right? — or wait for my actual birthday. I did manage to wait to discover a wooden box full of Tea Drops. On the side are directions: "Pour in boiling water, add Tea Drop, stir and enjoy." Tea Drops, it says, "are pressed teas made with genuine tea leaves that dissolve in hot water." And inside are five kinds of tea:
Citrus Ginger
Sweet Peppermint
Blueberry Acai
Rose Earl Grey
Matcha Green Tea
I've had so many text messages and phone calls and long conversations that I had to recharge my phone at midday: Barbara, Sandra, David, Sheila G., Susan, Sandy. I got Facebook birthday wishes from Sylvia, three books shopped off her own shelf from Donna (stay-home orders, you know), and these birthday cards from Donna, Miriam, and Marie.
When Clawdia woke from her latest cat nap, we ventured out into the sunshine for the walk she's been wanting for days. Miriam called happy birthday to me from a distance, while she was out sitting in the sun after days of rain. We're both 80 now, since her birthday was in March. As Clawdia sat in the lush grass looking around, I decided the pollen count seems to be down. The mowers and trimmers were working here on this sunny Sunday, even though they usually come here on Mondays. Maybe they've gotten their days as mixed up as the rest of us during this lockdown, or maybe they're worried about "rainy days and Mondays."
That's not all, yet. Later in the day I got a couple of other singing electronic cards, both from Sharon. One was these goats yodeling, and the other was William Shatner singing to me and putting my name in lights as I posted at the top of the page. Okay, Sharon, how'd you do that, getting both of them to sing my name? Thanks for the shout out!
And at the end of the day, more birthday wishes on Facebook from Gina, Toni (who included another birthday cat for today's collection), Annette, Judith, Charlotte, Bonnie M, Jimmy, and Terri. Thanks to all.
Update 4/27/2020: Birthday wishes keep pouring in, like floodgates have opened. Facebook friends continue to send belated good wishes ~ Nancy, Jess, Alyssa, Cindy M, Jean L, Dora, Sharon L, Sylvia, Diana, Laurie, Mary Virginia, Cindy Z, Carol H, Ginger, Rosemary, Vickie, my brother Jim, Pamela, Ginny D, Candy, Sheryn (who added a dog to celebrate with us), and Rosie (who added a cat flying around in a small bi-plane to my cat collection). And I forgot to include the twenty-plus who have clicked "Like" or "Love." Feeling very blessed by all of you.
LOCKDOWN ~ humor
For more fun during our lockdown, here's a short video from a music teacher, who has composed a sweet little song. In her viral video, Liz explains:
"As some of you guys might know, I'm a music teacher, and I've found that one of the best ways that I can process the whole transition to online learning and teaching is to write a song. So, I wrote a song, and I'd like to share that with you guys now. Here we go."
What follows quite succinctly sums up the collective feelings of many, many teachers, parents, and students around the country. And I'd say, it applies to the rest of us, too. Shall we sing it with her?
Last night, someone posted on our Nextdoor neighborhood listserv.*
"We have a sewing machine in our house, but alas no one who knows how to sew. If anyone could put the sewing machine to good use making masks, etc. we're willing to give it to the first taker."
This morning, someone replied. Here's the online "conversation," which has garnered several "LOVE" reactions.
"I would love to have this if it still available. I am part of a group of Facebook making masks for medical professionals and essential workers. Let me know if it still available and I will pick it up today!"
"It is still available. I'll message you on this."
It's fantastic that people are so committed to helping each other get through this time of fear and anxiety, offering help and being willing to do for others. Sunday was Golden Rule Day, and I think people all over the world are living that Golden Rule, as they "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." It's happening, and it gives me a good feeling to see us caring and sharing.
...and MEMORIES
About that Singer sewing machine illustration I found. I started sewing on a vintage machine like that. I had already learned how to stitch by hand and how to embroider using a wooden spring hoop to hold the cloth taut. See the flat treadle at the bottom? We had to place our feet there to pump it back and forth to make the needle go up and down. Years later, when I got a portable electric sewing machine, I was able to take out the old and put the new one in that cavity, where the machine could fold down for storage and up for use. Since it was operated by an electric foot pad, I no longer had to pump as before. The treadle was still in place, though unused.
Unlike the manual machine, the electric one could stitch backwards and do zigzags as I guided the material under the foot. It made buttonholes that looked even and professional. I eventually gave that one to my daughter. Maybe I should get another, though I no longer have the old wooden thing with drawers for spools of thread and scissors. I could put it on top of my desk or dining table. Or maybe not. I really don't have room for anything else in this apartment.
WORD of the DAY
*LIST·SERV /ˈlis(t)sərv/ an application that distributes messages to subscribers on an electronic mailing list; an electronic mailing list; a method of communicating with a group of people via email. You send one email message to the “reflector” email address, and the software sends the email to all of the group's subscribers.
CLAWDIA
One day when I was shopping, I bought a can of Friskies Mariner's Catch, thinking maybe Clawdia would try it and like it someday, even though she has rejected it in the past. When I opened it yesterday, thinking to give her something different, she jumped on it and started eating before I could put all of it in the dish for her. She LOVES it, at least for now, so I guess it's going on the grocery list.
When we came home today after walking in the grass using the hated leash, I got a phone call from Tiny's daughter Lauree. She wanted instructions on how to leave care packages for Sheila and me, since the Crown Center discourages visitors during our state's stay-at-home orders. I told Lauree about the table near the link desk where prescriptions and packages are being left, now that the office staff are working from home. When I went down later to get it, Clawdia also had a couple of surprises. Not only a can of fishy food, but treats! Thanks, Lauree and Tiny, from Clawdia and from me. I wish I could let Clawdia know the treats came from her dearly beloved Tiny. Lauree is so thoughtful; when she called, she also asked if I needed toilet paper or anything at all, saying I should call her if I ever do.
FULL MOON
Here's the full moon rising majestically over my neighborhood this evening. Good night to all, and to all a good night.
When I ate lunch in the Circle@Crown Café last week, I bought an extra item. Everyone's been raving about their homemade biscuits, so I got one to eat later at home. What is it about certain foods that comforts us? In my case, food reminds me of my mother. She was a school cafeteria manager and loved to feed people.
The biscuit, of course, wasn't as good as my mother's biscuits. Nothing ever is, since in our minds what we remember was so perfect. This week, the Café is not open at all, and that day last week when I gathered with friends around a table to eat and talk and laugh feels like a distant memory. This week, nothing is normal. This week, the world feels strange, as I reported last night in "the reality around here."
Sorry, there's nothing "comforting" in this line of thought, so I'll answer the questions I posed earlier. Let's see if I can be positive.
Quarantine Questions ~ now Self-Isolating Questions
On Thursday, I learned the latest terminology is "self-isolating," leaving "quarantined" to those who have been been officially quarantined.
1. What am I grateful for today?
I'm grateful for friends at the retirement center where I live, and that includes staff as well as residents. The staff is going above and beyond to make us safe and take care of us during this pandemic, and that includes getting meals delivered to our doors so we don't have to leave our apartments unnecessarily.
2. Who am I checking in on or connecting with today?
When my BFF Donna ordered groceries, she added a few things I needed. So I went to her apartment to pick up food for Clawdia and me. Along the way, I spoke to Margaret, Iva, Karl, and Miriam in the hallways. I talked on the phone with the Donna who is on staff, BFF Donna (several times), Sheila, Nancy, and Judy. I replied to Donna Rae Jones, our yoga instructor (yes, a third Donna today), by comments on this blog and by email, as she attempts to set up a virtual yoga group, since "Gentle Chair Yoga" has been suspended for now. While Judy and I were talking by phone in our own apartments, we waved to each other from building to building across the entrance and patio below.
3. What expectations of "normal" am I letting go of today?
I'm letting go of the expectation that we need to face each other to talk and share. As you can see, I talked to a lot of people today, mostly by phone. Hearing each other's voices can bring us together without having to see each other in person.
4. How am I getting outside today?
How about bringing "outside" in? I opened the window for Clawdia so she could smell the fresh air, listen to sounds, and scan for any birds in the trees below our window. It took three tries to get this photo of her, since she kept turning around to see what I was doing with that cell phone camera pointed her way.
5. How am I moving my body today?
Other than walking from my apartment to Donna's in the other building, I haven't done much moving today. Maybe I could do this SilverSneakers virtual exercise class on Facebook. "Join SilverSneakers Trainer Jenny O’Callaghan for our first live-streamed SilverSneakers exercise class here on Facebook!" Thursday, March 19, 2020 at 10:30 – 11:00 Central Time. That's tomorrow!
6. What beauty am I either creating, cultivating, or inviting in today?
I shared coloring pages on my bulletin board that people can take home, color, and re-post them on the board to share with any of us going by the elevators on my floor. Several people have already taken pages and returned them on our board. I need to put up more pages, since they are almost all colored now. If you want to color one and don't live here, send me a photo of it, and I'll add it to our bulletin board.
Chair Yoga: Sit, Stretch, and Strengthen Your Way to a Happier, Healthier You ~ by Kristin McGee, 2017, exercise
Chair yoga is exactly what it sounds like: exercises you can do sitting down. In Chair Yoga, celebrity yoga instructor Kristin McGee takes you through 100 yoga poses and exercises that are easy enough for all levels and will help readers stay active, alert, and healthy. Divided into chapters organized by body part (say goodbye to back pain and hello to better posture), each exercise includes step-by-step instructions and easy-to-follow photos. Plus, bonus chapters on 5-, 10-, and 15-minute routines help readers put it all together and find the time to perform these exercises.
Sheila G. called me Wednesday evening and, among other things, we talked about our Gentle Chair Yoga class that morning. I thought maybe we could incorporate some of that into our group exercise on Friday afternoons and found this book online. It was only $1.99 for Kindle, so I downloaded it. I was surprised to see that it cost me $0.00 because I have a gift card there that I won a few weeks ago. Yay! And another "yay!" because illustrations I had already found to use here actually show the author of this book. These back exercises are in chapter 8, so now I have the pictures handy to help me when I'm trying them myself.
On Friday, I attended a viewing of "Not in Our Town" with other Crown Center residents, a documentary about stopping hate and violence in a community. We were supposed to see the one about Billings, Montana, the first in the series (I think), but we got one about a different town. The one we watched was also about hate in a community that rose up against it. Patrice O'Neill, producer and director of those films, is the daughter of our Crown Center neighbor Gert.
12. Birds of a Feather (Book 2) ~ by Jacqueline Winspear, 2004, mystery (England), 9/10
"Well then, let's stand by the window. ... Maurice had taught her: Always take the person to be questioned to a place where there's space, or where they can see few boundaries. Space broadens the mind and gives the voice room to be heard" (pp. 21-22).
"And what did Dr. Blanche say about it then?"
"That coincidence is a messenger sent by truth. That there are no accidents of fate" (p. 50).
Maurice's maxim: "To solve a problem, take it for a walk" (p. 106).
Blanche smiled ... "As I have said many times, my dear, each case has a way of shining a light on something we need to know about ourselves" (p. 194).
"Let the ideas come to us instead of chasing them."
"Exactly" (p. 238).
Maurice: "In learning about the mysths and legends of old, we learn something of ourselves. Stories, Maisie, are never just stories. They contain fundamental truths about the human condition" (p. 264).
"That's one more thing that I detest about war. It's not over when it ends" (p. 266).
"May I not sit in judgment. May I be open to hearing and accepting the truth of what I am told. May my decisions be for the good of all concerned. May my work bring peace" (p. 272).
"Move the body, Maisie, and you will move the mind" (p. 282).
"Resentment must give way to possibility, anger to acceptance, grief to compassion, disdain to respect — on both sides" (p. 299).
"Why were you out of bed?" ...
"I was doing the hula," I said. ...
"The hula?"
"Alice didn't know what the hula is," explained Renée.
"So Peg was going to show her," Dorothy added.
Shaking her head in disbelief, Willie helped me into bed and warned me to stay there. "In all my years of nursing," she said, "I've never had a polio patient try to dance the hula" (p. 102).
"Peg Schulze became Peg Kehret when I married Carl Kehret. We have two children, Anne and Bob, and I wept for joy the day they got their first polio vaccinations" (p. 172).
Reading Now
Pardonable Lies (Book 3) ~ by Winspear, 2005, mystery (England)
"I must dash. I've got a new patient this morning, a youngster crippled with polio, I'm afraid. See you Saturday" (p. 45).
Did you notice a "coincidence" here? I read in the previous Maisie Dobbs book (above) that her mentor Maurice said "coincidence is a messenger sent by truth," and the memoir is about a polio patient. Compare all three yellow highlights in this post, and you'll see that this quote ties together these three books. Hmm, what's going on? Is there something I should be aware of? I don't know, but I noticed this coincidence. I have NEVER before read about polio in any book I remember, and yet here are two in a row!
Borrowed Book
They Will Inherit the Earth: Peace and Nonviolence in a Time of Climate Change ~ by John Dear, 2018, ethics
In the Beatitudes, Jesus says of the meek, "they will inherit the earth." Meekness, John Dear argues, is the biblical word for nonviolence. He makes the connection Jesus makes at the start of his Sermon on the Mount between our practice of nonviolence and our unity with creation: our rejection of nonviolence is inevitably linked to the catastrophic effects of climate change and environmental ruin. Drawing on personal stories of his life in the desert of New Mexico, his time as a chaplain at Yosemite, his friendship with indigenous and environmental leaders, his experience at the Standing Rock protests, as well as his work with the Vatican on a new stance on nonviolence, John Dear invites us to return to nonviolence as a way of life and a living solidarity with Mother Earth and her creatures.
Sheila Garcia gave me her copy to read. I have a stack of my own books I had planned to read this year, partly to get rid of the stacks of books in my apartment, but there are only 160 pages in this little book. What would you do? Oh, wait! Is this another coincidence? Look again at the documentary on violence at the top of this post. Maybe I'm supposed to read the book Sheila shared with me. What do you think?
Bloggers gather in The Sunday Salon — at separate computers in different time zones — to talk about our lives and our reading.
Clawdia has missed Tiny, since she moved to Idaho, but she seemed more interested in exploring Sheila's apartment that day in August when Tiny came for a visit. She'd never been there before and was curious.
Sheila and Toni got in the picture with Clawdia and Tiny.
Tiny is still in town visiting her daughter Lauree, so Clawdia got to visit with her friend again last week in the lobby. She wasn't happy wearing that leash and collar, though.
Clawdia screamed all the way down the elevator that she was being kidnapped, but she relaxed into Tiny's lap at the jigsaw table in the lobby and soaked up the love as Tiny crooned to her. Tiny, who used to live one door away on our floor, is one of Clawdia's favorite friends.
After visiting with Tiny and Dodi and Sheila and Gail and Barbara in the lobby, we went out back near the gazebo, where Clawdia enjoyed nibbling the grass (photo at right), scratching her back on the rough concrete of the sidewalk, and exploring various nooks and crannies.
Then she marched herself across the grass toward Donna's building, with a few detours to look at this and that or sit for a moment to ponder her surroundings. When the grass and winding walkways ended, Clawdia jumped up onto Donna's windowsill and surveyed the world around her (photographic evidence at the top).
We stayed outside until mosquitoes swarmed around Clawdia and she had her mouth open panting in the heat. (Temperatures reached the 90s in St. Louis today.) When we got home, she went straight to her food and water while I scrubbed my mosquito bites with alcohol. After all that, Clawdia decided a cat nap was in order, so she curled up and slept near my feet as I stretched out on top of the bed to read.
It turned out the special for today was actually "Crab" Artichoke Quiche. Notice the "crab" is in quotes; that's because crab is not kosher, and the Circle@Crown Café is kosher. Someone around the two tables shoved together for our large group said pollock is used as fake crab. By the time I ordered, the Café had run out of the special anyway. They substituted spinach quiche with salad for me, and I was very happy with it.
Who joined us today for food and fun? Melvin and Gail were meeting with another group, but they sat and talked with us until their group arrived. Eating together were Donna, Sheila, Nancy, Susan, Sandy M., and me. Joining us for shorter periods of visiting were Florence and Mary and Ezra. At one point, we totally embarrassed Nancy by singing Happy Birthday to her!
Donna and I each have a copy of John Pavlovitz's book A Bigger Table, which he signed for us on Friday. We have attended three of his presentations this weekend at Parkway United Church of Christ:
Friday evening, his seminar was "Building a Bigger Table."
Saturday morning, it was "Rebounding from Compassion Fatigue."
Sunday morning, he preached at their regular church service.
On the first evening, Donna and I bought these tee shirts, which we wore to Saturday's seminar.
SPEAK LOVE ~ while you still have breath (Donna's tee)
When I taught EEO compliance (Equal Employment Opportunity) to managers in the 1970s and 1980s, we focused mostly on racism and sexism. I noticed my new tee shirt had one, but not the other. There's that word "misogyny" on the list, but in my mind sexism and misogyny are not the same. So I went in search of answers. I like these remarks from an article in the Guardian: Sexism and Misogyny: What's the Difference?:
"Sexism is to misogyny what antisemitism is to Jew-hating. ... Misogyny has ... contempt and violence in it." ― Naomi Wolf
"Misogynists are always sexist, but sexists are not always misogynists." ― Julie Bindel
Mysogyny seems to be about hating. Okay, then my tee shirt does need "sexism" on the list. My friend Sheila thinks the list also needs the word "greed" on it. What other things do you think we should resist?
Paul Coutinho
My new friend, Sandy S., came for lunch at our Circle@Crown Café on Friday, bringing four books for Sheila to peruse. I was able to flip through them before passing them along to Sheila on Saturday when we met for our discussion of Unbelievable by John Shelby Spong. All four books are by Paul Coutinho.
How Big Is Your God? : The Freedom to Experience the Divine (2007)
Just as You Are: Opening Your Life to the Infinite Love of God (2009)
An Ignatian Pathway: Experiencing the Mystical Dimension of the Spiritual Exercises (2011)
Sacred Darkness: Encountering Divine Love in Life's Darkest Places (2012)
